The list of victims in the Michigan house explosion has now been released to the public.
During the holiday season, a house in Michigan blew up, whipping the whole house down. It was first assumed that the family of four was inside the house during the time of the explosion.
Northfield Township Police and Fire Rescue departments quickly responded to the site after receiving a call stating a loud explosion was heard in their neighborhood in the 8200 block of Winters Lane.
The Michigan House Explosion Kills a Family of Four
The press conference, with Lieutenant David Powell of the Northfield Township Police Department speaking to the public, revealed that the explosion occurred on December 30 at approximately four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, which is 14 miles north of Ann Arbor.
Only the house's foundation remained after the explosion completely leveled the surrounding wood and other debris.
After the responders arrived, it was discovered that the Bragg family inside was six people instead of four.
It turns out that all the kids of the Bragg family came home to Michigan to spend the holiday, including their parents and their grandfather, who were all inside the house.
At the same time, the police started searching the house with whatever was left while the firefighters worked to put out the fire.
Rescuers immediately rushed the people rescued to the hospital. Two family members were revealed to be in critical condition, while it was announced that the four others had died.
According to Lutenant Powell, the victims were the couple Hope Bragg, 51, her 53-year-old husband Don Bragg, and two of their children, Kenneth Bragg, 22, and Elizabeth Bragg, 19.
Deputy Lieutenant Powell of the Northfield Township Police Department stated that he was unable to determine whether or not any gas appliances had been recently placed in the residence.
The lieutenant also revealed that there was no evidence of a meth lab inside the residence that others might suspect to be the cause of a house explosion.
It is assumed that the cause of the Michigan house explosion for now is the involvement of fuel and air, as stated in the preliminary findings.
However, there is a possibility that this finding will be revised after additional evidence and interviews have been conducted. At this moment, there is no suspicion of any foul play.
Furthermore, the police department requests that the public refrain from entering the area and give the investigators space to work.
Investigation and Community Response
Powell reported that the deceased members of the family were paying a visit to Richard Bragg, Don Bragg's father, who was 72 years old at the time of the devastating explosion.
In a critical state, Richard Bragg, the owner of the house, remained in the hospital for an extended period of time.
At the same time, Steven Bragg, who is 16 years old and the youngest child of Don and Hope Bragg, was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
Matthew Rooney, a friend of the Bragg family, told the press that he was crying on and off thinking about the Bragg family.
Rooney, who was a coworker and has a son who attends the same school as Stephen, who survived and is currently hospitalized, described the explosion as horrifying.
Rooney had stated that Hope and Don were going to spend the holidays in Michigan. Even though they resided in Arkansas, they frequently spent their vacations in the house, which the police stated was constructed in 1979.
They were in the process of renovating the house and had the intention of retiring there in the future.
